Apologies for the lateness of the Memo; some problem on the website slowed us down.

As we enter December, more and more interplay between national, state and local issues emerges. Chaos at the consumer finance protection agency -- supposed to be independent; local pushback on tax changes; slippery slope on repealing the individual mandate. Plus a productive session on criminal justice in Baltimore and much more; read on...

Hal Ginsberg walks us through the covert deal that tilted the Democratic National Committee in Hillary Clinton's favor. As you might expect, Donna Brazile's insider book shows that it was all about the money.

"While a slowdown of Stranger Things or make-up tutorials may not inspire you to be upset, consider that all types of information would be impacted by the destruction of net neutrality," Liz Dueweke says. "It is undeniably a social justice and public health issue."

Cheverly, in Prince George's County, provides a model for many: The attention paid to mitigating climate change at the local level, we recognize, can jump-start some stagnant parts of our local, state and national economy.

Sophia Marjanovic, a Progressive Maryland activist in Montgomery County, spoke at the signing of MoCo’s $15/hr minimum wage measure Monday, Nov. 13. She described everyday life with no margin and the vulnerabilities that brings.

The health of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries – and the health of Marylanders – is endangered by industrial-sourced stormwater runoff. Attention must be paid, as they say – but the state is not doing so, apparently looking the other way when big corporate polluters fail to report what the law requires, and underfunding the inspections that could keep them honest. Tim Wheeler of Bay Journalhas chapter and verse here.

Well-intentioned proposals to reduce "food deserts" in Prince George's tiptoe around the wider inequity that brings on the county’s food security issues – residential segregation, not only by race any more but class, exacerbated by high-profit development that steadily erodes affordability of quality housing and isolates those communities further. A UMCP student's op-ed in the student newspaper highlights these effects, even in booming College Park.

The majority-Republican Congress "Tax Cuts and Jobs Act" legislation is barreling down the legislative track. Some have referred to it as the "Job Cuts and Tax Act" because of how horrendous this tax plan will be for the bulk of Maryland residents.